The West Has Brought this upon Itself

No civilisation in human history has done more for the daily lives of men, women and children than Western culture has since the time of the 17th Century European Enlightenment. Due to its intense focus on individual liberty and the resulting attainments in science, medicine, law and technological innovation, the great lodestar of Western culture has burned fiercely for the cause of human flourishing.

In direct contrast to this flourishing lies the Islamic world. Their one and only product during this same epoch has been, and continues to be, religion. What of oil I hear you ask, and the wealthy, modern and thriving cities which have been funded by it, like Dubai and Abu Dhabi? The fact remains that these cities were built by petrodollars, but that itself was the result of Western engineering pioneered in America, then Europe and eventually shared with the sons of Allah.

When a culture is theocratically oppressed by a religion it kills innovation because the creative mind must be free to be able to think and create, not kept constrained in a mental prison guarded by literal interpretations of a medieval scripture.

The West learned this from its Enlightenment after the Protestant Reformation helped to throw off the political tyranny of Catholicism. The Reformation’s fighting spirit surged just after the great Renaissance or “Rebirth” of European art, music and literature - what was reborn was the spirit of the ancient philosophical Greeks and their culture of beauty and heroism in manly form. The Reformation’s fight was fuelled around a central and sacred idea… that Liberty of Conscience was a human right.

Thus it came to pass in Judeo-Christian nations, that religion became not a power which ought to be wielded by the State, but a private matter only between the hearts of men and their god. Religion was thoroughly defanged as a vicious weapon of control to physically bludgeon other humans with.

This process toward Liberty of Conscience has barely even begun in so much of the Islamic world and so their laws, their customs and their very way of life are still dictated by their religion, which was invented in the 7th Century. Hence so many Islamic practices are primitive, like: State executions for apostasy or blasphemy, no emancipation for women, female genital mutilation, honour killings and a tendency to kill infidels who deny - or don’t care - about their god. Muslims, even those whom we may consider to be “moderate” are deeply conditioned to looking the other way when brutal acts of violence happen around them. Terrorists waging violent Jihad do so on the command of the Quran - and Muslims are used to this being a feature of their daily existence.

There are those who say that Islam is currently locked in a grand civil war between opposing sects, Sunni and Shia, but apart from the bothersome fact that Islam has always perpetuated civil wars, I hear no leaders on either side calling for Liberty of Conscience, so no Reformation is even on the horizon, only two divides both with strict interpretations of the Quran. Neither is better. Neither will pave a path to liberty. Neither seeks emancipation from its ubiquitous religious laws.

The people of this culture are the people the West has invited in to live side by side with, as if magically they will throw off their religion and primitive cultural practices to embrace long fought for Western freedoms. Terrorism every other week on Western soil committed by either second generation immigrants or brand spanking new ones, stands testament to how utterly foolish this is.

There is a country which has been immensely successful in having Arabs live side by side with those who are Western in their value system and outlook - that country is Israel. Considering Israel has been subject to terror threats almost as a way of life, it has been so effective in countering terrorism that it begs to be studied by Western governmental agencies for its lessons on how to thrive with this Muslim terror threat looming daily at their very doorstep.

From what I have gleaned, and there is no single solution, rather a myriad of interrelated disciplines which enable terrorist attacks to be foiled before they happen, Israel has taken “profiling” to an art form. Since it is always Arabs who plot and carry out terror attacks, the Israelis have no qualms about profiling those of Arab origin. The West is demure on this front, having scruples about “racial profiling”; they would prefer to have their own children slaughtered in their own cities rather than be seen to be “racist” in any way, shape or form. When every terror attack on Western soil since 9/11 has been carried out by Arab Muslims, it needs no explanation as to why we would consider profiling Arab Muslims in Western countries. To not do it is evil in my book. This is war. Our civil liberties do not belong to those who seek to really do us harm. If they’re innocent then that will be made clear AFTER they have been profiled. We needn’t faff about in the name of ‘enlightened tolerance’ if secure countries are our goal.

Profiling means being innately suspicious enough to ask salient questions, where, the answer to those questions either satisfies trust, or provokes more suspicion. Israelis are very good at this. A focused profiler notices when someone is nervous, fidgety, or “odd” in their behaviours. All they need to do is engage in a line of questioning, casual or pointed, and an in-preparation terrorist’s answers often do not stack up with confident, trustworthy behaviour. Any parent who has raised children knows the slightly shifty dynamics that a person employs when they are not being fully truthful about something. It’s not fool proof, but it’s powerful. This detaining people to profile them on Israel’s El Al Airlines is well known and it is not uncommon for a person being profiled to miss their flight. There it is… boo fuckin’ hoo. Nobody dies, nobody sues, nobody needs counselling. (Imagine New Yorkers “Oh my Gaaad - Where’s my lawyer?! Where’s my Analyst?!”)

The Israelis know how important not only the bomb makers and plotters are, but also the couriers. Israel has wide powers to listen in to conversations so couriers who carry the information physically are imperative to a successful terror attack. Couriers can be approached and flipped, usually if they are offered large sums of money, to go back into the terrorist network to gather evidence of an attack in preparation. Then arrests are made. Arrests are demoralising and they disrupt the network. Israel focuses a lot of attention on making arrests or suspected terrorists in preparation for an attack. They don’t ignore a suspect and put him on a “watch list” because they do not have the legalities in place to make an arrest until he actually commits a crime (as in the United Kingdom). He is arrested and heavily interrogated until he gives up more information of other networks in preparation - or gives up information of other associations, or is released because he is innocent. It is often the flipped courier who leads them to these hot targets for arrest or preemptive killing (as was the case with Osama Bin Laden, though his courier was never approached, only followed).

Checkpoints are another important counter terrorist action the Israelis employ widely. Checkpoints create anxiety for terrorists especially when used in conjunction with profiling. Checkpoints can be set up around events, main arteries on the way to events, schools, or on public holidays and religious celebrations like Passover. Israel uses checkpoints extensively knowing that it makes terrorists suddenly alter their plans and actions - avoiding checkpoints causes suspicion enough that they flush out those with nefarious motives who panic or flee. On a very unlucky day, a terrorist can detonate himself at a checkpoint, killing police and soldiers also, but arguably a better outcome than blowing up a stadium or a synagogue and killing hundreds.

Israel also has a gun culture. Security guards are armed, police are armed, many civilians are armed and nearly the whole population (except Bedouins and Arabs) are conscripted into the IDF at age 18. There is not an automatic right in Israel to carry a gun but licenses are granted for varying and wide ranging reasons which makes the odds very high that sitting in a cafe anywhere in Israel there will be decent, law abiding civilians in possession of fire arms who can shoot to kill. Terrorists know this, and many businesses hire armed security guards to protect patrons with their mere presence. Too many people in Western countries are deeply averse to this measure for flimsy reasons, but I suspect that as things proceed in our affairs and more and more acts of terrorism are committed on Western soil, an armed populace (let alone the police and security forces) will become necessary to maintain a peaceful society, since societies have insisted on importing people who have a well established pattern of threatening them.

There are those in Western countries who were extremely vocal about welcoming and embracing the millions of Islamic immigrants into Europe, like the weaselly Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, who now says that British citizens need to get used to terror as being “part and parcel of living in a big city” - he is acting for terrorists when he says things like this as a Muslim leader. If he were against them and on the side of Western values, he would be calling for the need to defeat and eradicate them, not bid us to learn to live with them. He’s a traitor. He thinks nothing of calling for President Trump to have his state visit canceled but seems to be perfectly comfy with 22,000 terror suspects being allowed to wander the streets of Britain. You can bet he’ll fight like hell for their civil rights like all Fifth Columnists do.

There are now three million Muslims living in the United Kingdom.
12% of British Muslims said in a Pew poll that they felt suicide attacks against civilians in Britain could be justified - that’s 360,000 Muslims who hold that appalling view. 18% of British Muslim students said they would not report another Muslim who was preparing to commit a terrorist attack. It is because of statistics like these that we should have no problem with the friends, acquaintances, neighbours, boyfriends, husbands, brothers, sisters and parents of “suspects” having their doors kicked down by the armed forces and put through profiling and interrogation. These stats are disgusting and show how badly multiculturalism has failed - and these stats were collected years before the recent wave of immigrants were ushered into Europe under the excuse of the Syrian war. I shudder to think what the stats would be now.

Terrorism is a tactic and a lethal one at that. These counter tactics are not only protective measures but also a way to flip the situation of civilians always been the ones on the back foot in the face of an attack. They cause pressure and fear to the terrorists which is what is needed to make their lethal acts far more difficult to carry out, as things stand now it is far too easy for them. Time to learn from the self-reliant Israelis who understand more than any other group of people on Earth what the threat of genocide actually means in reality.
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Western countries have brought this menace down upon our own heads through their deep unwavering commitment to multiculturalism (all cultures are equal) and their ignorant belief that everyone wants to get on and enjoy life in a similar way to us. Let’s just let everyone in, they demand, let's not vex ourselves about their backward culture, their totalitarian religion or their perverse customs, they’ll adapt to our ways if we just show them the kind face of tolerance and acceptance.

This has proved to be naive and foolish - now we are going to have to adapt to the illiberal choices we have made and that means that our innocence is now at an end, and so also should be our promiscuous tolerance.

​I offer this not as another call to 'learn to live with terrorism' but as a way to fight it and eradicate it from within our own societies.

I thought this was very good too - and important to have these things expressed in a feminine style, to appeal to maybe wider audiences.

I liked the bit in particular where you suggest Islam is not compatible with creativity. I think that creativity requires a mental state where 'authority' basically doesn't exist. Total sacrilege to someone who believes in an authoritarian god. lol.

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The opinions expressed here are the unmoderated views of the contributors who express them.They do not necessarily reflect the views of other contributors, or of SOLO, and do not necessarily align with Objectivism.